India, July 29 -- The shoe arrived at my doorstep over a month ago. Swamped with World Cup duty and surviving on little sleep because of North American kick-off times, I barely had the energy to open it. It sat quietly on the shoe rack, still boxed, almost asking every time I walked past, "Done with the World Cup yet?" I wasn't. But when a rare one-day break arrived between the Round of 16 and the quarterfinals, I couldn't resist any longer. Like a child unwrapping a long-awaited toy, I finally opened the box. There it was-the Adidas Hyperboost Edge.

The first thing that struck me was how surprisingly light it felt in my hands. At 255 grams, it certainly doesn't look like a lightweight shoe, especially with that oversized slab of foam un...